You Found Me
by ThymeWaster
Summary: Hatori finds a young woman beaten and bloody in an alley at the exact same time as the death of a member of the Zodiac. What happened to her and does she have a part to play in the future of the Sohma family? ANIME fanfic, not manga. Read and Review!
1. You Found Me

Ok, so, I know it's not on my profile and no one was expecting this, but I really wanted to put up the first chapter of this and see if anyone had any interest. It's really interesting to me to see how my writing has improved since "Titan's Child" which is also about a rape victim.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, or the song "You Found Me". Other people do.

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One – You Found Me

"I don't think I want you to get Kana back. I want you to meet someone who will make you happy for the rest of your life. I want you to be a thousand, no, ten thousand times happier than Kana ever will be. That is what you deserve!" Ayame leaned in closer while Hatori listened patiently to his tirade.

"You know, perhaps you should try being this determined with Yuki." He said it as if the other man knew what he meant; though Aya really had no idea.

"Oh, you think so?" He faked it.

Shigure interrupted. "You'll find someone, someday. A woman whose love fills your heart and lifts your spirit; even when you're apart; but whose greatest gift to you will be staying together."

"Spoken like, a true poet." Ayame chimed in.

"Novelist, novelist!" Shigure corrected.

Hatori began thinking to himself. _A new love… T__hat may be more than I can realistically hope for. It may be more than anyone cursed by the Zodiac can hope for. _The three teenagers returned from the lake and he watched them contentedly walking side by side up the path. _And when I __think about it, isn't it enough to have had a love like Kana'__s in my life; i__f only for a short while. Is that not already more than I deserve?_He came to his conclusion._ Yes, for now the best thing I can do is keep watch over the others. And I hope that the never have to know the same suffering that I have. _

Little did he know that love has a mysterious way of creeping up on you when you least expect it…

"NO!!" He heard the scream from somewhere nearby. It was nearly two in the morning and Hatori was only out because of a late house call, he never expected to hear someone yelling. He ran towards the source of the sound and after turning and seeing many empty alleyways, he finally found her.

Crumpled in a ball in the corner of an alley was a young woman, barely in her twenties if he had to venture a guess. Her shirt was torn down the front and she was covered in cuts and blood. Her face was bruised, and a quick glance showed that her skirt was also bloody. The last thing he wanted was to see a rape victim this close to Sohma house.

"Let me help you." He stated simply as he tried to reach out and help her up. It was no use; she cringed at his hand and whimpered. She wouldn't let him touch her. He didn't really blame her; he didn't really like the male sex at the moment either. He tried to think quickly and finally he flipped open his cell and dialed Shigure.

"Ha'ri! I never expected you to call! What can I do for you?" Shigure cheerfully sang on the other end.

"I was wondering if you would bring Tohru over, I need her for something." He braced himself for the awful joke that was inevitable.

"Oh you dirty man! Trying to steal my precious innocent housewife! How evil of you!"

"No, I found someone who needs help. She won't let me near her." He thought for a moment and then added. "I think she was raped."

Shigure's tone turned serious and he told Hatori he would be over as soon as possible. The young doctor decided sit down against the wall opposite the poor girl and wait for his cousin. She watched him nervously and jumped every time he moved. He tried to seem as non-threatening as he could, but no matter how hard he tried he still scared her.

He examined her in his mind, looking over her and deciding what was the most critical of her injuries. A couple of her fingers were obviously broken, but the bruise on the side of her head worried him more; at the rate it was growing it was almost surely a concussion. In the darkly lit alley he couldn't see much more than her face and her hands, but one injury worried him more than all the others. There was a long bruise forming around her neck, right underneath her chin. He thanked God that he had come when he did, if the man had held onto her any longer or tighter, he was sure she would be dead.

Finally Shigure found them. Hatori looked up at him when he turned the corner and pleaded with his eyes for the other man to be civil and quiet. Shigure understood the message and made slow, cautious movements without saying a word. Tohru was by his side and she surveyed the situation carefully before slowly approaching the battered woman who was now trying to watch both Hatori AND Shigure at the same time.

"It's ok now." Tohru tried. She reached a hand out to her but pulled back quickly when the girl jumped. "We aren't going to hurt you. I promise. I know it's scary, I can't imagine going through what just happened to you, but I know that we can help you now." She sat down in front of her and continued. "I know that Hatori and Shigure are probably the last people you would want to find you, but they are nice, good, kind people. They won't hurt you. I can't promise that things will ALWAYS be better, or even that they will be better soon, but anything is better than sitting here. Please, come with us. We don't want to see you hurting."

All through this speech Tohru was inching herself closer and closer to the girl. By the time it was over she was close enough to help her stand and walk a little. Hatori was relieved and amazed at her ability to say exactly what people need to hear. Ever since she had moved in with his cousins he knew that she was important and special. At this particular moment in time her talent for knowing what people need to hear was invaluable to him. Not to mention the fact that she was female.

They took her straight to Hatori's home/office. With much coaxing from Tohru, the girl let him examine her for anything major. He took his time bandaging the worst of her cuts and wrapping her two broken fingers. Afterwards, she was led to a guest room and Tohru sat with her to make sure she didn't pass out from the concussion. Hatori and Shigure sat outside on the porch talking over the event as the sun began to rise. A sharp ringing cut through the silence and Hatori went inside to answer it.

Shigure listened as his friend's tone grew dark. "I see… Well then… I understand… Yes, send him over…" Were some of the fragments of conversation he overheard. When Hatori finally returned his face held a look of grim anger and suspicion.

"Ritsu was in a car accident at two this morning. He was killed instantly." The words struck like a brick to the head. The death of a family member was always cause for sadness, but the death of a member of the zodiac was also cause for concern. A new child would be conceived within minutes of the death of the last animal and this mother and baby would have to be found as soon as possible.

"Poor Ritsu, I don't know what we'll do without him." Shigure bowed his head in respect.

"We may not be without him for long." Hatori interrupted. "The hospital called, a Sohma came in looking for treatment for several broken fingers and a lot of scratches. The nurse said he looked like he'd been in a cat fight. He didn't want to come to me for some reason, but they are sending him over anyway." He paused and let the idea wash over Shigure.

"You think he's the one?" The dog looked back at the guest room where Tohru was sitting across from the girl; the door cracked just enough to get a glimpse of her bruised face.

"And it happened at two this morning. At least, that's when I heard her scream. If that girl in there is pregnant, it may be our next monkey." Hatori said with grim loathing. Not of the monkey, but of the man he would soon have to treat. He thought in silence for a moment and then addressed Shigure. "Did I ever tell you about how the Zodiac members come into being?"

"Same as anyone else, except two months early right?" Shigure thought this was common knowledge among those who lived "inside". "Why do you bring it up?"

"There's another part of it." Hatori continued. "Something my father taught me before giving over the practice. Supposedly it would help me identify who was carrying a zodiac child before the baby was born." He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and sat down on the porch.

"Every child born into the zodiac is born under a particular circumstance. For the cat its anger, Kyo's parents were fighting the night he was conceived." Hatori's example was a well known fact among the older Sohmas. "It actually has a strange resemblance to their personality if you think about it. The rat is born out of obligation. You can guess how Yuki came to be." Hatori sighed.

"And where does the monkey come from?" Shigure asked, slightly afraid of the answer.

"Fear." Hatori spoke the word with contempt. There was a hesitant knock at the front door and Hatori glared at Shigure before getting up to answer it.

The man standing on the other side of the door was tall, easily Hatori's height. His white dress shirt had blood spattered on it and his left hand was swollen and purple. In his medical mind, Hatori was cursing the man for not coming earlier; those broken fingers had been left much too long. In his personal mind Hatori was holding onto every last bit of control he had to keep from breaking the rest of his fingers to match. "Come in." He said reluctantly.

He led the man to a chair and sat him down and began cleaning the cuts on his face that resembled fingernail scratches. "How did this happen?" He asked out of courtesy.

"Oh… I was… I got in a… It's a long story." He finished stuttering. Hatori poured a little too much antiseptic on a particularly bad cut on the man's neck. He watched the man cringe at the sting and felt a sadistic pleasure.

"What side of the Sohma family are you on?"

"My mother married into the family, we live at the very edge of the outside. I rarely come into the main house so I'm sure you can understand my not wanting to bother you this early in the morning." He was beginning to feel a little more comfortable; just what Hatori wanted.

Shigure still sat on the porch; he listened to his friend interrogating the man, trying to find out if he was a candidate for parenting a zodiac member. He was also listening for the man to give some sign that he was the one who raped the girl who now sat with Tohru in a back room. He stood and decided to help his friend a little.

He walked around behind the man so that he didn't see him and slowly pushed open the door to the guest room. "Miss, could I borrow you for a moment?" He asked slowly. The girl looked at Tohru, who nodded, and then she stood slowly. She held onto the wall as she walked out using it to keep herself standing.

Shigure leaned over and whispered to her, trying his hardest not to seem threatening. "I'm going to have Hatori turn his patient a little; can you tell me if it is the man who did this to you?"

She took a deep, shivering breath and then nodded slowly. He smiled at her and then looked up at Hatori. Once he caught his eye he nodded. Hatori turned the chair slightly and the girl jumped. The man couldn't see her, but she saw enough of him to identify him. She nodded vigorously and backed into the guest room as quickly as possible, she fell backwards and Tohru caught her. Shigure pulled the door shut behind her and grabbed the phone off Hatori's desk. It was his current greatest pleasure to call the main house security.

In less than five minutes two armed men came to the door and "escorted" the rapist off of Sohma property and into the hands of the law. Hatori was overwhelmed with relief that the man was no longer at large. It was now eight o'clock in the morning and he hadn't gotten any sleep. Someone would be coming soon to ask him to check on Akito and then the usual day's work would commence. But what was he supposed to do about the girl?

He looked over her and saw "her" for the first time in all of the long hours of the morning. From the top of her head of jet black hair to the tips of her petite little feet, he could tell she was afraid. The ends of her hair extended past her collarbone, its dark color making sharp contrast with her pale complexion. Her eyes were a rare sight; they were the lightest shade of blue he had ever seen. Her small frame was dramatically accentuated by the blood-stained and torn clothing. That would have to be dealt with immediately.

"Shigure" He called over his shoulder. "I have to go talk with Akito, can you and Tohru get her cleaned up and maybe find out something about her?" He looked again at the dark purple line across her throat. "She won't be able to talk, but maybe you can figure something out."

Shigure nodded his acceptance of the task and watched Hatori leave.

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Sorry to any Ritsu fans out there. But I had to kill off a member of the Zodiac and I didn't want to kill anyone else. I invented the thing about "origins" and if you are wondering about where all of them come from, REVIEW and I'll tell you. It's actually one of my more creative ideas...


	2. When No One Else Was Looking

Two – When No One Else Was Looking

"Good morning Akito." Hatori greeted the head of the household as he did every morning; with a quick word and smile.

"I'm fine Hatori. I didn't ask for you today, why did you come here?" The young man's voice was flooded with loathing, for life, people and his own position. He was younger than many of the zodiac and yet he was their "god". He held the position at the center of the curse and he was the one whom they all were loyal too.

"I have different matters to speak to you about." Hatori's words were carefully chosen, he had been rehearsing his next speech in his head since the phone call about Ritsu's death.

"That damn monkey deserved what he got. I'm glad he's gone." Akito spat at him. It was only natural that whoever called Hatori about Ritsu's death spoke with Akito as well. Hatori waited for him to breathe normally again and then continued.

"I think I've found the mother of Ritsu's successor." He saw the look of curiosity in Akito's eyes and went on. "She was raped early this morning and I found the man who did it. He's a Sohma."

"And you think that she's now carrying the monkey? There are probably ten other women in this family who are pregnant, what makes you think it's her?"

Hatori was reluctant to tell him about the "Origin" part of the curse. Akito was the head of the household, but he was kept in the dark about many things; usually under the excuse of his health, but mostly because people feared his wrath. "There are ways of telling. The act was committed at almost the exact moment of Ritsu's death. That cannot be ignored. There are also other theories." He wondered if he should have said that last sentence.

"What other theories?" Akito asked pleasantly, though his eyes told a different story. They burned with the need to know what he had not been told about his family.

Hatori sighed and continued. "Each zodiac has an origin: fear, anger, joy, inexperience, obligation, fun, love, rebellion, cunning, concern, tradition, stupidity and hope." He spoke the list as fast as he could, hoping for a lack of questions.

"And which is the monkey?" Akito asked sharply.

"Fear." Hatori bowed his head and waited for Akito to speak. The few minutes of silence seemed like hours in that room. Finally, as if there had been no pause in the conversation at all, Akito told Hatori what to do.

HSHSH

"Tohru today is your day off isn't it?" Shigure asked from across the main room of Hatori's small house. She had come out from the guest room when the girl fell asleep. Hatori had assured her before leaving that it would be fine, nothing would happen to her and her concussion hadn't caused any damage besides the purple and brown mark spreading across her face.

"Uh huh. I can stay here if you need me too." She nodded and smiled.

"Good, but I was wondering if you could go home and get some clothing for her, I'm sure Ha'ri doesn't have any women's clothes lying around here." He winked at her and she jumped up to do what he asked. She was eager to help in whatever way possible.

As she stepped outside and put her shoes on she looked back at him and asked, "What will you do?"

He was scanning Hatori's desk, finally finding yesterday's newspaper. He sat down in the chair and unfolded it. "I'm going to guard the house; we don't want anyone knowing about her yet. If she wakes up I'll try and get her to write out some information."

Tohru thought that this was brilliant and smiled brightly as she left to go back to Shigure's house to get some of her clothes for the poor girl. She would probably have to make breakfast quickly for Yuki and Kyo as well.

Shigure turned back to his paper. It would take Tohru at least two hours to get back with some clothing and Hatori would be a while explaining the situation to Akito. He had no idea how the girl would react if she woke up and Tohru wasn't there, but he was confident that he would manage somehow.

The first to return was Hatori. He walked up to the porch in dark silence and sat down, Shigure joining him moments afterward. They sat for a moment before the dog broke the silence. "So what's the verdict?"

Hatori lit a cigarette and looked out at the garden. "I'm supposed to keep her here until we can find out if she's actually pregnant."

"Sounds reasonable." Shigure spoke questioningly. Akito was never reasonable.

"If she is, I'm getting married." There was a light chuckle at the end of his statement. The irony of his situation was not lost on either one of them. Several years ago, Hatori had gone to Akito to ask permission to be married to a young woman named Kana. Akito had refused, violently, blinding Hatori in his left eye.

Now, Akito was ordering Hatori to marry a young woman he had never met and had no feelings for besides pity, because she had been raped by a Sohma. Before, a desire for marriage led to an act of violence. Now, an act of violence was leading to a desire for marriage.

"My god man, why you?" Shigure asked, quite loudly.

"Who knows? To keep her in the main house probably." Hatori speculated. The sound of a door sliding interrupted their conversation and both men turned to see the young woman standing in the guest bedroom doorway. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was shaking from top to bottom.

"It's alright; we aren't going to hurt you." Hatori said again. He felt as if he had told her this so many times that morning. Though he knew that she now believed him, he still said it. It seemed the only thing he could say to reassure her.

She tried taking a few steps and ended up falling forward onto her knees. Both men jumped up at this and ran to help her. Hatori got to her first and took her by the arm, leading her gently to his desk chair where she could sit comfortably. Shigure scanned the desk for paper and a pen; thankfully, Hatori was a very organized person and he found what he was looking for quite quickly.

"Can you write?" He asked, handing her the pen and putting the paper down on the desk in front of her. She nodded and began scribbling down several words. Hatori stood next to her with one hand on the desk, leaning over to read as she wrote.

"My name is Sayuri Sasaki." Were the words written in a very neat and tiny handwriting across the top of the page. She continued on with her age, 22, and her address, an apartment downtown.

"Is there anyone you want us to contact?" Hatori asked politely. Sayuri shook her head and stared at her feet.

Shigure looked from the paper to Sayuri and back, forming his question as he read her address several times over. "These are fairly new apartments, if I'm thinking of the right place, how long have you been in the city?"

She held up her hand with one finger pointed out.

"One year?" Shigure guessed. She shook her head.

"One month?" Hatori guessed. She shook her head.

"One week?" They both spoke in unison. She nodded slowly and her cheeks turned slightly red. The two men looked at each other and then back at her. What an amazing welcoming gift she'd been given on moving to the city.

"What about your family? Where are they?" Hatori asked slowly. She shook her head. It wasn't a direct answer, but he understood what it meant. She had no family. Being in the city only one week, she probably didn't have friends or a job either. He held his head in his hand and closed his eyes slowly. There would be no resistance from a family, no protesting from friends, she could be absorbed into the Sohmas as if she had been one from birth.

A jump from her brought him back into reality. He looked in the direction of the porch and saw Tohru, accompanied by Yuki and Kyo who were carrying several bags for her. The jump was justified now, since two strange men had just appeared in front of her.

"Well well, did Tohru really need a full escort to come back here?" Shigure couldn't help but tease them.

"That's not it you damn dog!" Kyo yelled. Sayuri pushed herself as far into the chair as she could. The three newcomers couldn't see her because of where Shigure was standing, but she could see them, and hear the yelling.

"Would you mind keeping your voice down? Sayuri is a little skittish." Hatori asked agitatedly. At least now he had an excuse to make Kyo shut up. He turned the chair a little so that they could see her properly.

Tohru kicked off her shoes and came running into the room. "I'm so glad we know your name!" She restrained the urge to hug her and just stood awkwardly in front of her. "It's so pretty!" She exclaimed.

Yuki and Kyo slowly took off their shoes and joined the rest of them. They put the bags down on the desk and introduced themselves before Tohru led her off to the room Hatori pointed out as the bathroom. She took one of the bags with her and asked if someone would put the other one in the guest room.

Yuki obliged her and then joined the other men in sitting on the porch. Hatori explained the situation as carefully as he could. Telling them about Ritsu's death and the rape happening at the same time; he told them about the man being a Sohma and the arrest earlier that morning; the last thing he told them was about his meeting with Akito.

"He wants us to keep an eye on her until we can know for sure if she's pregnant. If she is, then I'm going to marry her to keep the baby in the Sohma family." Yuki and Kyo's faces were the picture of concern.

"Why are you telling us all of this?" Kyo asked finally, after the story had penetrated.

"Because, though Akito wanted her to stay here for the next few weeks, I think it would be better if she stayed with you at Shigure's house. It would be better for her to be near Tohru." Shigure nodded. Even though Hatori hadn't asked him, he knew that this plan would eventually come to the surface. Tohru had a healing effect on almost everyone, it would be better for everyone involved if Sayuri could be near her for a while.

"But, if Akito wanted her here…" Yuki began.

"I'll deal with Akito later this afternoon. I'll ask him then." Hatori explained.

"Tohru has the day off, she said she would stay here with Sayuri if you needed her too." Shigure told him. Hatori nodded his approval.

HSHSH

Sayuri watched quietly as the water flowed through the spout and into the bathtub. She watched Tohru bustle around the room looking for soaps and towels and such. Her mind was elsewhere; over the past twenty-four hours she had been through more than most people can say happened to them in a lifetime. Now she was facing a strange future.

She had overheard the two men talking about someone named Akito telling one of them that he was supposed to marry her if she became pregnant. It was as if her opinion and her wishes didn't matter, they weren't going to ask her at all. She heard them talking about animals, it sounded so strange, they spoke as if the people around them were animals and even called each other things like "dog" and "monkey". It seemed so confusing that these were the first people to truly take an interest in her since she moved to the city from the country.

The bathtub was almost full and now Tohru was helping her to get undressed. A wave of humiliation swept over her as her blood stained clothing was removed to show her naked body, covered in cuts and bruises. She stepped into the warm water and felt relief. She was washing away everything. She picked up the soap with her good hand, the one without broken fingers, and began scrubbing her hair as best she could.

The moment she slid into the water she had forgotten about Tohru, who now took the soap from her and sat behind her, washing her hair gently and carefully, trying not to hurt her face in any way. Sayuri was amazed that this girl would go to such lengths for her. They had never met before last night, and now she was helping her to bathe. "Rinse?" Tohru asked, letting go of her hair.

Sayuri sunk under the water and ran her hand through her hair, releasing the soap from it. It felt so good to be clean and rid of all the blood and dirt from the alley. It was as if she was washing the night away completely. But it was an experience she couldn't wash off with soap and water. The man's face was etched in her mind, his grip around her neck all too fresh in her memory. She remembered scratching at his face and neck trying to get him to stop, but it didn't help. Finally they both broke fingers when he gripped her hand in his free one and slammed it against the wall behind her. The memory was enough to send a shiver down her back despite the warm water.

She pulled her head back out of the water and looked into the worried eyes of her watcher. She gave her a hesitant smile, trying to say that she was alright. Apparently it worked because Tohru smiled back brightly and helped her wash the rest of her body. When they were done, she got out and dried off before the younger girl helped her to get dressed in some clean clothes. They were simple, a knee length blue skirt that Tohru never wore and a white shirt with a square neck and elbow-length sleeves.

Her old clothes lay on the bathroom floor in a heap. When Sayuri looked over at them Tohru asked if she wanted to keep them. The thought was so preposterous that Sayuri smiled a little before shaking her head. She watched the girl turn red from embarrassment at such an inconsiderate question and then try to apologize extensively. "Will you forgive me?" Tohru asked after several repetitions of "I'm so sorry!"

Sayuri nodded and stepped out of the room. "Wait!" Tohru called out and touched her lightly on the shoulder. She flinched a little, even though she had just been bathed by this girl. Something about being grabbed from behind struck a sour chord in her mind.

"You're hair…" The girl began. She held out a black hair tie and Sayuri nodded. She quickly braided the black locks and tied them off before letting her go out into the main room. The four men stood quickly when she entered and she bowed out of courtesy.

Hatori looked at her with awe. The transformation was complete and striking. She was still covered in cuts and bruises, but they were much less prominent now that the excess blood had been washed away. Her hair shimmered in the light that passed over her from the open screens. He noticed another mark on her left ear that he would have to treat later, it looked like a bite, but it was miniscule compared to how striking she looked in the clean clothing.

It was Shigure who first spoke. "We were thinking that you might like to stay with us, that is, Yuki, Kyo, Tohru and I, at my house for a while. If that's alright with you, I'll send the boys over to your apartment to get your things." She nodded her agreement. If living alone got her beaten and raped, then she was more than happy to go live with Tohru.

The four men had decided that it would be better not to tell her about the curse until they knew for sure if she was pregnant. It was better to be safe and wait than to have to erase her memories later. They would just have to be extra careful for the next few weeks, and they would have to tell Tohru not to mention it. But it would be easier to keep the secret if she was away from the main house. Everyone on the "inside" knew about the curse, so it was a common topic of discussion.

Sayuri took a piece of paper and wrote down directions to her apartment and handed them the key she had taken out of her old skirt pocket. Yuki smiled as she handed it to him and then he grabbed Kyo's arm and dragged him out the door and away. Hatori looked over at Tohru and Shigure and addressed the later. "I assume the two of you can take her back to your house alright, I have to go talk to Akito again." He turned to Sayuri. "Then I suggest you eat something, you look like you might be hungry." She wasn't, but she nodded anyway. He stepped out and disappeared around a corner, leaving her with Tohru and Shigure.

"Well, we should try to get back before the boys do, I'm sure they'll be hungry when they get home." Tohru smiled and took her arm, helping her to sit on the edge of the porch and put on a pair of shoes she had brought with for her. In so many ways, Tohru was amazingly clever. But in so many other ways she was the most airheaded girl you were ever to encounter.

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I am actually quite disappointed in the community. I really like this one and it isn't getting any attention whatsoever. Maybe I made the first chapter too short. Oh well, please read and review! I accept unsigned reviews (reviews from people not on and I would really like people's opinions! 


	3. How Did You Know

Thank you to all of you who reviewed! I'm so happy you did. Specially SilverTortoise! I love you girl! (We know each other OUTSIDE the internet...)

Here is the list of how the origins match up, I gotta say, your guesses were interesting, and some were better than the originals. I have reasons why I set them up this way, but they would take WAY too long to explain. PM me if you want to know that badly.

Rat: Obligation, Monkey: Fear, Cat: Anger, **Tiger: Hope, Dragon: Tradition, Dog: Fun, Horse: Rebellion, Cow: Concern, Sheep: Stupidity, Snake: Cunning, Bird: Joy, Rabit: Inexperience, Boar: Love. **

Disclaimer: What part of "fanfiction" is getting lost in traslation here?

* * *

Three – How Did You Know... 

The first few days were hard for everyone involved. The boys were used to dodging Tohru and making sure they weren't in any danger of hugging her. They could usually hear her wherever she was. But Sayuri was quiet. She rarely made any noise and she tried her hardest not to attract attention to herself, which meant that there were several awkward moments when one of the boys would run into her in a hallway and have to perform strange acrobatics to avoid hugging her.

But as the days passed they got used to her quiet ways and things calmed down. Once she was walking on her own again, on about the third day, Sayuri began trying to help Tohru with the chores. Since she couldn't say anything (Hatori told them that she might not be able to talk for a week or more) she carried a small notepad in her skirt pocket and a pencil behind her ear most of the time in case a nod or shake of the head wasn't enough of an answer.

She was useful in the kitchen, quietly grabbing whatever she was asked to fetch, finding whatever she was sent for and stirring concoctions on the stove when asked. She still couldn't carry anything too heavy or reach too far. She avoided laundry other than her own and Tohru insisted that she not try to clean bathrooms. Getting down on her hands and knees would be extremely painful.

After the first few days, Hatori came to visit with news. "Akito wasn't happy when I told him you would be staying here." He told them over dinner the first night he visited. "He wanted you to be as close to him as possible, but I explained that this was a better environment and he slowly warmed up to the idea." Shigure knew exactly what this meant. It meant that Hatori told them what they thought about her not finding out about the curse until they knew if she was pregnant, and he threw a tantrum, but now he was convinced it was his idea in the first place.

Sayuri enjoyed staying at Shigure's house. The people there were interesting and she enjoyed being near Tohru. It was entertaining to watch the two younger boys argue over little things and even physically fight over some. Whenever she saw them hitting each other and breaking things it brought a hesitant grin and a silent giggle to her face. She also enjoyed reading selections from Shigure's extensive library. She read quickly and it was one of the few things that Tohru would let her do when she was feeling bored or useless.

It became a regular part of every evening for Hatori to visit after dinner. Shigure could tell that his friend was concerned for the newest addition to his household. After the first week since her arrival, and several nights of "surprise" visits from him, Hatori explained his reasoning.

They were sitting outside, Hatori smoking as usual, watching stars and recapping the situation for what must have been the hundredth time when he said something that triggered understanding in Shigure's mind. "I can't go against Akito, so if she is pregnant I will have to marry her. I just want to know her a little first."

Shigure saw something in Hatori that night that he rarely saw; Hatori was nervous. He had seen it a few times when they were growing up but that night he saw that his friend was truly nervous about something. It caught him off guard for a moment. Of all the people he knew, Hatori was the least likely to show emotion, to anyone; especially an emotion that could be considered a sign of weakness.

"I hope you understand, I want to get to know her if I can. That's another reason why I wanted her here. The main house isn't the best place to get to know people." He looked back over his shoulder to see Sayuri and Tohru washing dishes inside. He caught her eye and they stared at each other for a moment before she took another plate from Tohru to dry. Her eyes moved quickly back down to her hands and he thought he saw a pink tinge to her pale cheeks.

"I understand, you're always welcome here Ha'ri, no matter what the situation." Shigure clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder. He got up and walked back into the house, leaving Hatori to finish his cigarette.

HSHSH

After two weeks had passed, Hatori's visiting finally had a reason that could be known to all. He came in his lab coat and with his medical bag and stethoscope. When he opened the door it made Sayuri jump a little in her seat; she had never seen him dressed for work. She knew instantly that he was there to check up on her, so she stood once she had recovered from the initial shock. "Hello." She said quietly and bowed.

Her voice had slowly begun returning to her, along with the other normal sounds people made. She now laughed lightly, though not that often, she sighed and she stuttered. Each day she could say a little more without hurting herself, though it still wasn't more than a few words a day. Hatori wasn't sure if that was physical or psychological. He couldn't help himself from thinking that her voice, with its timid sound and quiet nature, was absolutely beautiful.

"Tohru, would you mind if we used your room for her exam?" He asked politely after saying hello to everyone. Of course, Tohru agreed instantly. Sayuri followed him upstairs and tried to be brave in the face of being alone with him. She was still afraid of men, even though the past two weeks had proven that these four were completely harmless. She just couldn't help herself from being afraid.

"Come sit." He gestured at Tohru's bed. She sat quietly and watched him cautiously as he sat down beside her. "All I'm doing tonight it taking a few blood samples, I can't run any tests here, but I can back at my office. I'll call as soon as I know anything." He explained this while he dug through his bag for the necessary tools. She nodded quietly and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her left ear. The purple bite marks were fading quickly, along with most of her other bruises.

She held perfectly still as he drew the necessary blood. She looked away when he injected the needle, and he gave the closest thing to a reassuring smile he could give. Reassurance was not his forte. She acknowledged his effort with a timid grin. It was just enough that he saw it, but not so much that she felt uncomfortable.

When he finished she held the inside of her elbow tight. As he was packing up his things she spoke hesitantly. "What happens if… if I'm…" She didn't have to finish the sentence. He froze, one hand over his bag.

He knew exactly what happened, he married her, she became a Sohma and learned all the dirty family secrets, and then she had a baby that changed into a monkey. But he couldn't tell her that, not yet. "I don't know." He lied. He stepped silently out of the room and left the house without saying goodbye. The blood he was carrying back home would tell him what not only her, but his own future held.

Throughout her stay with Tohru and the others, many facts about her life were uncovered. Of course, this information was passed on to Hatori during his visits, usually by Shigure. The first night she was there, she wrote out how she came to be in the city. She was born in the country, with no siblings, her parents had died a month ago and it took three weeks to make the necessary arrangements for selling the house and moving.

The second day, when Tohru and the others returned from school, she filled up an entire notebook writing about herself. They were mostly trivial things that Tohru asked for, such as her favorite foods and such. Shigure laughed when he saw that she didn't eat seafood.

When she found a necklace in the bags that the boys brought from her apartment, she wrote out an explanation as to why it was so important. Her mother gave it to her when she was sixteen and told her that it was a family heirloom passed down from daughter to daughter on her sixteenth birthday. She couldn't remember how far back the tradition went, but she knew that it was originally given as a present from the groom in an arranged marriage.

But none of these facts about Sayuri were important enough now. None of them compared to the monumental fact of whether or not she was pregnant. As she sat on Tohru's bed, still clutching her arm, she began quietly crying to herself. Her life would never be the same again, either way the pendulum swung.

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Ok, so, it was a short chapter. Love me anyway! (You know you want too...)

REVIEW PLEASE!!! #batts eyelashes and looks adorably cute#


	4. Just Where I Would Be

OMG!! I swear, School should not be so time consuming. But at least now I'm done for the summer! WOHOO!! Maybe I'll actually finish this story before school starts back up in the fall? Maybe? Gah!

I am SO sorry I left you guys hanging for so long, I really have no excuse besides being completely consumed by school. I hope this makes up for it, and if you ask nicely I will post another chapter THIS WEEK, but you have to ask. Which means reviewing! YAY!!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, though I could argue that I created Sayuri... Maybe?

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Four – ...Just Where I Would Be

Sayuri sat on the floor next to the phone twirling the pendant of her necklace in her hand. It was a small silver circle with a single black gemstone in the center of it. It wasn't on a chain, like most necklaces, but a black velvet cord. She sighed for the seventeenth time that morning. It was beginning to hurt her throat.

Her mind was obviously elsewhere, because a few minutes later Kyo walked by and tripped over her foot. "Damn it!" He almost yelled as he rubbed the top of his head where he had slammed into the wall.

She stood up as fast as she could, jerked out of her daze by his exclamation. "I'm sorry!" She said quietly and bowed a little. Though she was used to his presence, Kyo was the hardest one for her to be around because of his constant yelling and his quick temper. Most of the time she didn't know what to say or do when she was alone with him, and so she usually just kept quiet and tried to be invisible.

"Yeah, well, what are you doing sitting on the floor anyway?" He asked, slightly calmer. As if in answer to his question the phone rang. Sayuri practically dived for it, answering with a mouse-like "hello" and then listening intently. Kyo watched as her eyes suddenly began welling with tears and she sank slowly back down to her original position on the floor.

"Aw, hell…" he muttered and made a quick escape into the kitchen. There he found Tohru preparing a hearty weekend breakfast. "Hey, Sayuri needs you in the hallway." He said and took over stirring the pot of leek soup on the stove. She blinked a few times at him and then followed his path into the hall where Sayuri was.

She was still holding the phone in her hand, but it was evident that whoever called was no longer there by the dial tone emitting from the receiver. Her eyes were filled with tears and 

several had been let loose down her cheeks already. Tohru wondered what could have possibly caused her to cry so much but she avoided asking and instead sat down beside her and put one arm around her shoulders.

After the tears had begun to subside, Sayuri looked over at the girl and then back at the phone. One word escaped her lips before another wave of quiet sobs. "Hatori…"

For a brief moment Tohru thought she meant that Hatori was dead, but then she remembered that he had told them last night that he would call the next morning with her test results. The answer to the sobs still didn't click in Tohru's innocent mind, but they were soon found by Shigure who took one look at the situation and knew exactly what was going on.

"So, Hatori says you're pregnant." He stood over them and shook his head. "We were all hoping this wouldn't happen, but he knew it would. I swear, that man has a sixth sense about zodiac matters."

Sayuri looked up at him with a confused expression. What did the zodiac have to do with her being pregnant? Shigure reached out his hand to help her up and he led her into the main room to sit and wait for breakfast to be finished. She still felt confused but he wouldn't say a word until everyone was seated and they had begun eating.

Yuki had slept in that morning as he did most weekend mornings. Consequentially, when he made his appearance at the breakfast table, right before they were going to eat, he didn't know a thing about what had gone on that morning.

Halfway through breakfast, Shigure began talking. "I don't know if Hatori wanted to tell you this himself or not, but I'm going to explain anyway." He began cryptically. "The Sohma family has a curse on it." He waited for the initial shock to wear off, but was surprised when she just nodded for him to continue.

"There are thirteen family members who turn into the twelve animals of the zodiac, and the cat, whenever they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex." Now her face was portraying the disbelief he had been looking for earlier. "Would either of you boys like to be our example?" He asked a little too happily. "Or must I hug our dear Tohru?" He grinned as both Yuki and Kyo instantly glomped Tohru to prevent him from hugging her.

There were two bright puffs of smoke and then Sayuri saw an orange cat and a small grey rat sitting on the floor on either side of Tohru. Tohru, shocked by the instant glomping, had a look of complete horror on her face.

"As you can see, Yuki is the rat, and Kyo is the cat. I'm the dog and Hatori, well, you can figure out his on your own." Shigure winked. Sayuri looked back and forth between all the Sohma's at the table.

It was hard enough for her to believe that she was pregnant; that this had been forced on her by a man she didn't know. But this curse that they were telling her about was beyond bizarre and she was having a hard time wrapping her head around it. The sound of the front door sliding open made her jump slightly and turn her head away from the two "animals" at the table.

"I hope you don't mind, I let myself in." Hatori apologized as he stepped into the room. He took one look at Yuki and Kyo, who were now yelling at each other about who hugged Tohru first, and sighed. "I see they've already started explaining things to you." Sayuri nodded as he sat down next to her. It still scared her to have a man that close, but she took a deep breath and attempted to get over her fear. She knew deep down that none of them would hurt her, but it was still a nagging feeling that didn't go away.

"We change back after a while…" Shigure continued as if Hatori hadn't interrupted them. "But then we're…" The poof happened again and the boys were standing in the kitchen again, but they were completely naked. "Well you see." Shigure finished.

Sayuri and Tohru both turned away as the smoke faded. Yuki and Kyo both left the room to get dressed in private. Hatori took over the explanation and continued where Shigure left off. "The night we found you, the family member who turned into the monkey was killed in a car accident.

"The zodiac spirits that cause this to happen have to go somewhere when their human dies. It stays within the Sohma family, but when one member dies another one is conceived. I heard you scream at almost the exact moment of Ritsu's death." He waited for a moment as Sayuri processed this information. He watched her reaction carefully, he saw her eyes lower to her hands, one of which happened to be on her waist.

"There's no real way to tell until the child is born, but almost everything I know about it points to you carrying the next monkey." It was the obvious statement that he had been hinting at. Everyone at the table (including Yuki and Kyo who had returned during Hatori's speech) knew it without it being said, and yet saying it made it more real than Sayuri could handle.

She looked at Shigure and quietly asked to be excused. He nodded and she left the table, and the house. As she stood on the front walkway, between the house and the road, she couldn't believe she had been pulled into this. She didn't see how this was possible. She could have handled a cursed family, she could have handled being pregnant, but to have to be pregnant with a child who was cursed, that was more than she could understand.

Her feet were frozen where she stood; she looked up at the trees above her, their leaves turning beautiful shades of orange and yellow. The fall breeze blew over her, adding a chilling effect on top of everything else. She wrapped her arms around herself and began to cry. It was more than the tears she had shed before; her entire body shook this time. Her legs soon gave out and she fell forward onto her hands and knees. She couldn't tell how long she stayed there sobbing.

SHS

Hatori watched the raven-haired girl step out the front door in silence. Tohru stood to follow her, worry painted plainly on her face. "Don't. She won't go anywhere." He said simply, closing his eyes for a long moment. "There is more we have to tell her, but I think it can wait for a while."

Tohru sat back down, though her face still showed deep concern. "Poor thing," she commented. "It must be so hard to deal with so much at once. With her parents dying and now being pregnant and finding out that the baby might be cursed." She lowered her head in concern and once again the others were amazed by her insight. "But still, someone should go talk to her."

Shigure's gaze shifted to Hatori, where it stayed until he noticed. "Why are you staring at me?" He asked dumbly. Shigure only folded his arms and gave a knowing grin. It was beginning to irritate Hatori, but he would never show it. It only ever encouraged him.

"Well I'm not going!" Kyo spoke from the far side of the table.

"No one expects you too." Yuki responded coldly. Before Kyo could yell at him for the partial insult, he continued with "We aren't the ones she would want to talk to at all."

Hatori finally got it, realizing that Shigure was egging him on to follow Sayuri out the door. Honestly, if people would just say what they were thinking it would make life so much easier. He stood and went out the door before anyone else could say anything. Closing the door behind him, he stepped outside and saw her collapsed on the front walkway.

At first the sight took him off guard. He wasn't expecting her to still be so close to the house. He thought surely she would have tried to leave them, but instead he saw her only feet from the front door. Slowly, he approached her and knelt down beside her.

Her hair was draped around her face in sheets, hiding her tears from him. But her body spoke volumes as it shook with her sobs. Her hands hurt from the gravel that she was leaning on, but the pain only fueled her tears. Hatori put one hand on her back as he knelt next to her and she turned her head sharply to see who dared to touch her.

Without saying a word, he took his hand from her back and tucked her hair behind her ear so that he could better see her tearstained face. She looked into his eyes and a new wave of tears swept over her, this man was so kind to her and all she could do was fear him. She didn't want to be afraid of him. She didn't want to jump every time he walked in the room. But it was a fact that she did, no matter how hard she tried not to.

All he could do was kneel there, one hand on her back as she cried bitterly. He couldn't imagine what she was thinking and he wasn't going to try. He watched her shake and all he wanted was for none of this to ever have happened. He felt so awful that someone from his own family had done this to her, and now she was paying for something she never should have been involved in to begin with.

At that moment he loathed the curse for bringing her into it. She could have lived a normal life, without ever knowing who the Sohma's were. She could have had a career or a family, now she was here, with them, doomed to marry a man she didn't know and spend her life raising a child she didn't want. The curse had a nasty way of dragging good people into its hideous web of emotional turmoil and corruption.

When her sobs had slowed to a mere fall of tears, Hatori stood and held out his hand to help her up. She sat up from leaning forward and saw that her hands were bleeding from the gravel. He looked down on them and smiled apologetically, even though he knew it wasn't his fault. "I can fix it up inside."

She looked up at him from her hands. He stood with one hand out to her and she carefully let him grab her wrist to help her up. She looked down and saw blood trickling down her bare knees as well and sighed. It seemed like she was getting hurt so easily these days.

Hatori looked at her knees and smiled. "I've cleaned up much worse." He held her arm in his and helped her back into the house. The others had dispersed and only Shigure was left at the table to greet them. "So, Ha'ri, you got her to come back." He smiled at her and she tried to look as if she hadn't just had an emotional breakdown. He saw right through it.

"Shigure, do you have anything I can clean her cuts with?" Hatori asked as he helped her sit down and then sat beside her, inspecting her hands and knees carefully. Shigure got up and found some hydrogen peroxide and other necessities that he had learned a long time ago to grab when Hatori asked for medical supplies.

While he was gone, Hatori gently rubbed her hands, intending to remove the gravel and dirt but having a very comforting affect on her. She closed her eyes and for the first time since she met him she relaxed a little in his presence.

When Shigure walked back in the room he stopped in the doorway and stared at them, sitting facing each other, both sitting cross-legged, Hatori holding one of Sayuri's petite hands in his much larger ones. He was looking down at her hand as he rubbed his thumbs in circles over her palm; she had her eyes closed and her head tilted to one side. "They're going to make it." He muttered to himself before making his presence known.

No, Sayuri doesn't know that she has to marry Hatori yet.

Yes, I do realize that there actually is NO gravel whatsoever in Fruits Basket. I was amazed, I had to watch it about five times before I believed that the anime didn't match up with my story. I kept it in, didn't figure anyone would REALLY care. ;)

Forgive and Review please!


	5. You Broke Through

Ah, the introduction of Kay. How I've waited for this moment. I hope you like her as much as I do, you'll either love her or find her irritating.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

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Five – You Broke Through

"So, you move in with Hatori today?" Shigure questioned as Sayuri carried a few bags down the stairs and put them down in the hallway. It had been a week since she found out about the Sohma Curse. Hatori had been by to visit at least once every day since. They had had several long talks about the curse and she was allowed to ask as many questions as she wanted. Though with her voice the way it was, she didn't ask many.

One thing that was made clear early on was the plan for her future within the family. Hatori spent an entire afternoon walking her through the plan he and Akito had decided on, making sure that she understood it all and that she was willing to cooperate with it. Tohru was fortunate enough to walk in right as Hatori was asking Sayuri if she was willing to marry him. The poor teenager was confused beyond belief until he explained that Sayuri had to take the Sohma name so that the baby would still be part of the family.

The plan was simple enough: Hatori and Sayuri would get married in secret and pretend they had gotten married a month earlier, but didn't want to tell anyone before she could move to the city permanently. She would live with Hatori at the main house and become his wife in everything but sharing a bed. If the baby wasn't a zodiac member, (though no one believed this would happen now) she would move away with the baby and it would be as if it didn't work out between them. What Hatori didn't tell her is that he would erase her memory of the Sohma family completely.

Sayuri had started packing the minute she knew she would have to move in with Hatori. She knew she had to start as soon as possible because if she didn't she would never have the courage to finish. It was now a common sight for the others to watch her carrying bags down the stairs and leaving them in a small pile near the front door. Today she was bringing down the last few bags of last minute things before Hatori came to pick her up that afternoon. "Do you want any help with those?" Yuki asked politely from behind her. She hadn't heard him walk into the room, and so she jumped slightly when he spoke.

After recovering, she shook her head and carried the bags into the front hall with the others. "I will say, it will be much less exciting around here once she's gone." Shigure mused. "We won't have Ha'ri visiting all the time either."

"Yes, it will feel different. But I'm sure they will come visit often enough." Yuki sat down at the table and began eating the breakfast Tohru had laid out earlier. She was in the kitchen cleaning up the pots and pans used to make the meal. Kyo was outside, having finished breakfast and moved on to morning training.

"Sayuri?" Yuki addressed her from across the table. She had finally sat down to eat her own breakfast. "What time is Hatori coming to pick you up anyway?"

"Noon." She said quietly after swallowing a bite. It had not gone unnoticed that, though she did so in small bites, Sayuri ate quite a bit; especially when she was nervous. It didn't seem to affect her size in the least, no matter how much she packed away.

"Um…" Yuki looked up at the clock behind her head and grinned sheepishly. "It's eleven forty-five." He pointed. She turned her head sharply and stared wide-eyed at the offending clock. It had taken her more time than she thought to pack and carry her bags. She quickly shoveled several bites into her mouth and dashed back up the stairs to change into the clothes she had laid out.

"I wonder how Ha'ri is going to handle having her around all the time." Shigure mused. "If only I could be a fly on the wall in that house…" As his mind wandered into fantasies about his best friend's personal life, said friend was walking up the front path.

Hatori entered the house before anyone could notice he was there. He smiled a little when he saw the bags already waiting to be taken out to the car. Shigure stuck his nose around the corner and then promptly, and quite loudly, announced Hatori's presence. "Ha'ri! I'm so glad you're here! Our darling Sayuri has been doing nothing but packing all morning and it warms my heart to see that her fiancé hasn't abandoned her!"

Hatori glared at him and walked right past him and up the stairs to where he assumed Sayuri was. When he got to Tohru's room he knocked politely and waited for a response. Sayuri quickly ran to the door and opened it, expecting Tohru. She froze when she saw Hatori in the doorway and then bowed out of habit.

"Please don't do that." He said dryly. "At least, not in private. There's no need for such formality." He scanned the room for any sign of packing still needing to be done. He had come fully expecting to have to pack whatever she had forgotten. But apparently this girl was quite efficient, there wasn't a sign of anything left having to do with her in Tohru's room; except Sayuri herself.

She smiled politely before leading him back downstairs. She felt almost like she had a dog on a leash the way he followed her. She showed him the bags in the front entry "That's it." She explained.

"Alright then, go ahead and say your goodbyes while I load the car." He spoke bluntly as he picked up a few of her bags and headed outside. She turned to the inside and walked straight to Tohru, who by now had been informed of Hatori's presence and was waiting for this particular moment.

"I'll miss you so much!" The young brunette exclaimed, hugging Sayuri with all her strength. "I promise I'll come by and visit as often as I can." This was a comforting thought for the older girl. It would be nice to have another woman to visit with now and then. She was unsure of how to handle the idea of living alone with a man, married to him or not.

"Yes, it will be quite lonely around here without you, but I'm sure Ha'ri will bring you around whenever you want." Shigure smiled and stood to say goodbye. The boys both said their goodbyes and smiled. When Hatori returned from the car he gently took Sayuri by the hand and led her away from the house. She couldn't help looking over her shoulder at the one place she considered safe.

"We have to stop at the courthouse on the way back." Hatori spoke after an awkward silence. She nodded silently from her seat next to him in the car. They were almost to the aforementioned building and his warning was almost unnecessary; he had told her several times that they were going to stop at the courthouse for a quick wedding before going back to the main house.

That was all that was said before stopping. Being the true gentleman, Hatori got out first and got the door for Sayuri when they reached the courthouse. Inside there were lines of people going in all directions. He took her hand and led her around the crowds and up a flight of stairs where the people resembled people and not sardines. Following some sign that she couldn't see, he led her down several more hallways and finally to a room where several other couples were waiting.

"Wait here." He told her, making sure she was seated before going over to the secretary at a small brown desk on the other side of the room. It wasn't a big room, and other than a few chairs around the walls and the desk, there really wasn't much furniture. There was a large painting of the ocean on the wall opposite where Sayuri sat.

"Hi!" Someone to her left spoke out in a sweet voice. It surprised her so much that she jumped out of her chair before looking over to see a young woman, about her age, with short blond hair and big blue eyes smiling at her.

She blushed and smiled back shyly. "Hello."

The other girl's grin widened. "I'm sorry I scared you, but I'm just so excited! I can't believe I'm finally here, getting married!" This girl was overflowing with perkiness. "I'm Kay, what's your name?"

"Sayuri." She said quietly as she took the hand Kay extended to her.

"So, which one's yours?" Kay asked, nodding her head towards the men who were standing in line for the paperwork. Sayuri sheepishly pointed at Hatori, who conveniently had his left eye (no one had told her yet about the incident with Kana) toward her and couldn't see what was going on.

"Ooo! He's handsome!" Kay squealed. "Mine's the one two in front of him." She pointed at a man with short spiky brown hair, not too much shorter than Hatori. "He may not be the most handsome man to the rest of the world, but he's my prince, I can't wait for it to be my turn."

Sayuri felt as if a rock had just been dropped in her stomach. This girl was so excited about getting married, for her it was the world. To Sayuri, it was the last thing she wanted and the worst thing that could possibly happen.

"So, why are you here for a quickie wedding? I mean, you two look like you could have a big fancy wedding or something, so why are you here?" Kay interrupted her thoughts. She tried to think as fast as she could for an excuse for a fast wedding. The only thing she could think of was the truth, so she told it.

"Well… I'm pregnant." She said just loud enough for the girl to hear.

"That's wonderful!" Kay exclaimed. "Don't you love children? Oh, I do!" She paused to look at Sayuri's face, which was a mix of horror and embarrassment. "Oh, I get it! You got pregnant before you were married and your parents didn't approve, so they cut both of you off from the families and now you have to get married here because it's cheap! How romantic!" She instantly made up her own story for Sayuri's life.

Sayuri didn't try to correct her, but only bowed her head in silence. "My family all lives back in the United States, and Kenji doesn't have any family since his sister died last year so we don't really have a reason for a big wedding." The girl continued. Her story didn't end until Kenji returned and sat down next to her, forcing her to turn her attention towards the papers they were both supposed to read and sign.

She watched the couple with keen interest until Hatori returned. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him and smiled. It was the first time he had seen her smile directly at him without fear or hesitation. The moment was quickly interrupted however, when Kay noticed him. "Hi!" She exclaimed again. Her arm was intertwined in Kenji's and she seemed to be stuck to him like glue.

Kenji looked them up and down skeptically. "Why haven't you kissed her man?" He asked Hatori, who was surprised and left speechless by the question.

"Silly!" Kay giggled. "They are so used to hiding their love that it feels awkward to be affectionate in public." She explained for them. "Not like us." She added before kissing him full on.

Hatori gave Sayuri a questioning look while the other two were occupied. She just shook her head as if to say "I didn't tell her anything, just play along." He understood and then sat down on her right, partially using her as a shield from the overly-passionate couple seated to her left.

When Kay finally released his lips, Kenji continued addressing Hatori. "Seriously though man, you should always kiss your bride when you return to her; even if you were gone for just a minute." He waited expectantly for Hatori to say something. After a short pause, he finally spoke.

"You're absolutely right." He said and then turned his attention to Sayuri. He smiled and then quickly gave her a light kiss. It wasn't anything affectionate or deeply passionate but it did the trick. Kenji was satisfied and he returned to his own bride as they finished their forms.

Sayuri had been caught off guard by the kiss. She hadn't been kissed since the night three weeks ago and even before that she hadn't been kissed much. Images of her attacker trying to shove his tongue down her throat flashed into her head, but were quickly expelled by the vast difference between that kiss and this one. Hatori had meant no ill will, and the kiss was gentle and kind. She suddenly felt quite safe with him. She slowly and timidly reached over and took his left hand in hers. He looked over at it for a moment, smiled at her and then went back to the forms, leaving his hand in her possession.

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Kay taped Sayuri's shoulder and addressed her politely. "I know we don't know each other that well, but it says here that we need at least two witnesses to sign our marriage certificate after the ceremony. I was wondering if you and…" she realized that no one had told her the other man's name yet. "Your fiancé," she put the word in as a replacement. "would be so kind?"

Sayuri looked from Kay to Hatori and then tapped his shoulder lightly. "Hatori?" She asked quietly. It was just enough for him to hear her and turn his head to look at her. "They need witnesses for their wedding." She said once she had his attention. He looked back down at the clip-board in his lap and flipped through it until he found the page he was looking for.

"So do we." He said simply. Kay's face brightened as an idea came to her.

"Wonderful! We can be each other's witnesses! Oh, maybe this won't be so little of a wedding after all!" She clutched at Sayuri's free hand. "I know this is very forward of me, but I don't know anyone around here, and I really like you. Would you be like a maid of honor for me?" She smiled brightly and then added. "I'll do the same for you if you want!" Sayuri was so swept away in the other woman's enthusiasm that all she could do was nod and smile. She flinched a little as Kay squeezed her hand, her fingers were still sore but she didn't want to say anything.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Hatori whispered to her while they sat through Kay and Kenji's ceremony. The two of them had written their own vows and they were overflowing with sugary sweet words of adoration and romance. Sayuri looked as if she might be sick right then and there. He mistook her pale complexion for cold feet instead of general nausea.

She looked at him curiously. "I don't really have a choice do I?" As the words came out she realized how truly nauseous she was. Her hand flew to her mouth as she fought back the urge to expel breakfast from her system. Hatori put a hand on her back and tried to help her calm down her restless stomach; the wedding ceremony going on in front of them all but forgotten.

Finally, after "kiss the bride", Kay turned to her "maid of honor" and noticed the predicament Sayuri was in. She rushed to her newfound friend's side and helped her to the restroom with all the flourish such an emergency called for. After Sayuri regained some semblance of composure, and Kay was helping her to clean up in the women's restroom, she finally tried to make her excuses.

"When he called you the "Frosting to my cupcake" I guess I just lost it. I haven't had any morning sickness yet, but I guess this is only the beginning." She said between handfuls of cold water being splashed on her face. Kay burst out into hysterical laughter before finally escorting her out of the restroom and handing her over to a very concerned Hatori. Or at least, he seemed that way. Sayuri wasn't sure if he was pretending for the crowd or if he was actually concerned for her.

The second wedding, that of Sayuri and Hatori, was much less eventful and ended rather quickly. Without the hassle of personal vows or musical requests that had lengthened Kay and Kenji's wedding, it was over within minutes and afterward Sayuri stared at the ring on her left hand wondering if it had actually happened at all.

The four parted friends, though no one exchanged any information other than names, and Kay bounded out of the courthouse with all the excitement to be expected of a new bride. Sayuri on the other hand, walked quietly out the door and waited quietly as Hatori helped her into the car, and silently rode home; not noticing Hatori driving a bit slower and more cautious than usual.

Yup. Kay is one of my best "side character" creations. I love her. She's amazing. Love her too. REVIEW WITH YOUR LOVE!


	6. All of My Confusion

Holy crapmuffins! Have I been busy or dead? FINALLY AN UPDATE!!! Due in part to a couple friends who know who they are... *glares*

Oh... Yeah... Akito is a guy in my version. Just, fyi for all of you. It's an Anime fic, not a Manga. Sorry if that bugs someone.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

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Six - All of my confusion

The first few days at the main house were uneventful for Sayuri. Most of the Sohmas were courteous enough to leave her enough time to settle in before bombarding her with visitors and questions. Akito became ill right before she was supposed to meet him, and so that was put off for another week. She was actually very relieved at this; the idea of meeting the head of the family was extremely frightening to her.

Hatori's house had two bedrooms, the master bedroom that they supposedly shared and the guest room which would soon be a baby's room. Without discussion, Hatori spent his nights sleeping on the couch in his office. They both knew that this would only last so long, considering that living in the main house was like living with glass walls. Someone was bound to notice that the newlyweds weren't sleeping in the same room. But as a true gentleman, Hatori would let Sayuri settle into her new lifestyle before adding something so horrendously awkward as sharing a room.

The entire compound of the main house shared a kitchen. It was a strange phenomenon to Sayuri the first time someone came knocking on the front door with breakfast at six AM. She now understood how Hatori had survived being a bachelor so long without any cooking skills. (She overheard him telling Tohru about his lack of culinary talent.) Whenever she was hungry, Sayuri had only to call up the kitchen, (A building near the center of the world of the Sohmas') and ask for what she wanted and it was brought to her within the hour.

Hatori told her the first morning at breakfast that this system was much simpler than having each individual household buying its own food all the time. There were so many families inside the main house that the bills would be atrocious. She nodded and smiled, this world she had entered seeming stranger and stranger by the minute.

The peace and calm of her first days didn't last long however. On her fifth day there she had her first visitor. She was awakened that morning by Hatori's voice from the hallway. He was telling someone to be quiet and wait. She assumed he was talking to a patient, but another voice changed her mind. "But I've BEEN waiting!" The voice was either a very young boy or a middle-school girl, she couldn't tell which.

"She needs her rest Momiji. You can at least wait for her to wake up before trying to visit. Now go entertain yourself until she's ready to wake up." Hatori's deep voice contrasted with the whine of the younger person. By the name, Sayuri was pretty sure it was a boy. She rolled over and saw her clock telling her it was six thirty in the morning. The breakfast trays had already been delivered and Hatori was probably already working. All she wanted to do was roll over and continue sleeping until noon, but her stomach, and her curiosity, wouldn't let her.

She got up slowly and dressed herself before going into the bathroom to fix her hair and make sure she was at least slightly presentable. After approving her look she emerged from the room to find Hatori seated at his desk with a young blond boy lying on the floor reading a book. He looked about twelve, but something about him told her he might be older.

Hatori looked up from his work when he heard her enter and acknowledged her with a quick greeting. The boy however, jumped up from the floor and ran up to her with a gigantic grin on his face. "Hi! I'm Momiji Sohma! I'm staying with you and Ha'ri for the day because Papa had to work; you must be Sayuri!" He exclaimed in rapid-fire succession.

"Momiji, please try and be a little quieter." Hatori spoke from over his desk. "It is still quite early." Sayuri silently thanked him, she wasn't a morning person.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just excited! I'm the first zodiac to meet her since she moved in here; I wanted to make a good impression." He sat down and pouted a little. She couldn't help but think he was adorable.

"Oh, so you're a member of the zodiac too?" She asked quietly. He nodded vigorously and then almost hugged her before catching himself. She noticed Hatori glaring at him from behind.

"I forgot, I'm not supposed to hug girls without asking first." He sat down again and perked up as a thought came to him. "Oh! You haven't eaten breakfast yet have you? It's on the table, I'll go get it for you, wait here." He jumped up and practically sprinted over to the table to grab her breakfast for her.

She sat down and ate quietly as the boy talked on and on about how wonderful it was that Hatori finally found someone, and how he was doing in high school, (She was right in thinking he was older) and then he brought up the touchy subject. "The ladies in the kitchen say you're gonna have a baby." He said, almost excitedly.

Sayuri paused in her chewing to look at him before slowly swallowing a bite. She looked at Hatori pleadingly, not knowing what to tell the boy. Fortunately, Hatori spoke before she could. "Yes, it's true. But don't go spreading it around. We aren't really telling people yet." Momiji nodded in knowing agreement and then rambled on and on about his baby sister and how wonderful it would be to be a parent.

Sayuri looked down at her waist in fearful horror of what she would find there. To her own surprise, she was as thin as she was four weeks ago, and besides a few lingering bruises around her hand and ribs (which she could only feel at the moment) her outward appearance hadn't changed in the slightest. She wondered briefly what had given rise to the rumor that she was pregnant. Had she done something so obviously motherly that tipped off the staff? She mentally recalled the foods she had ordered in the past week, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly Momiji began laughing; the sound pulled her out of her thoughts and back into the room.

"I'm sorry, but you spaced out just like Tohru. It was really cute!" He explained through giggles. She couldn't help but notice that she had spaced out, and she began giggling a little too. It was so unlike her to forget where she was when other people were around, it made her laugh just thinking about it.

The sound of Sayuri laughing caught Hatori off guard. He looked up from his work to see the two of them giggling hysterically over something. Sayuri's quiet giggles mixed in with Momiji's loud laughs. It was the first time since meeting her that he had heard her laugh. He smiled briefly at the sound, and for a moment he wished that it would never end. But then reality hit him. He remembered that they were in the Sohma house, however wonderful it may be, laughter was always brief and usually only a mask to hide deeper pain.

Sayuri caught him staring at her and blushed; the laughter gone from her completely. She turned back to Momiji before Hatori could notice her embarrassment. "Did they say how they knew I was pregnant?" She asked timidly.

"One of them said something about finding blood test results on Hatori's desk after delivering a snack a few weeks ago." Momiji answered. Hatori was mentally killing a member of the kitchen staff, at the same time thanking god that he had the foresight to write "Sayuri Sohma" on all of her paperwork.

"Well in that case, everyone around here knows by now." He got up from his desk and took Sayuri's empty plate. "I'll take these back to the kitchen myself, I want to have a talk with some of the staff." He stated darkly as he exited the room. Sayuri made as if to stop him and then thought better of it. If he wanted to kill the kitchen staff that was his business, she had no right to stop him.

"So you know Tohru?" She asked, returning to the blond boy. He nodded vigorously. "I stayed with Shigure for a few weeks while Hatori got the house ready for me." She explained.

"I go to school with her and Yuki and Kyo and Haru." He explained eagerly. "You haven't met Haru yet; do you want to go visit him today?" Momiji sounded eager to show her off to the other members of the zodiac. Two seconds of staring into his big eyes was enough to get Sayuri to give way and agree to go with him.

As they were leaving she paused. "What about Hatori?" she asked quietly. He jumped up and down eager to explain his brilliance.

"I left a note on Ha'ri's desk, and it shouldn't be a problem with Papa since he just wanted me to be with an adult today. As long as you're with me I don't think anyone will mind." He smiled brightly and led the way out of Hatori's house and across the compound.

Though she had been there a week, Sayuri hadn't taken much time to familiarize herself with the estate. She spent most of her time in Hatori's house, (She still wasn't used to calling it "hers") avoiding the rest of the property and staying away from the other people. She was still afraid of most people and she still felt that drop in the pit of her stomach whenever she passed a shadowy corner or a strange man.

She followed Momiji to a house all the way across the compound where they stopped and knocked politely on the front door. It was now almost eight in the morning and the rest of the family was beginning to wake up. A bright woman with short brown hair answered the door and smiled excitedly at them.

"Momiji! So good to see you! I'm sure you're here to visit Haru. And who is this you've brought with you?" she switched her attention. "You must be Sayuri, Hatori's bride. I must say, when I heard he had gotten married I hardly believed it." She gave Sayuri a quick up and down critique. "But looking at you now, I can see why he brought you home. You're absolutely stunning." The woman proclaimed before ushering them both inside.

She didn't stop talking until after she had served them both tea and a tall boy with black and white hair entered the room half an hour later. "Mom, they don't need to hear your life story." He said as he sat down across from his mother.

"Haru!" Momiji exclaimed, almost jumping out of his seat. "I want you to meet someone!" He smiled broadly. "Haru, this is Sayuri Sohma, Hatori's new wife." She bowed her head respectfully and he did the same.

"Nice to meet you." She stated simply.

"Same here." He replied. He seemed slightly comatose. He then continued eating breakfast as if nothing had happened. He was completely comfortable with having a stranger in his house. Of course, Hatori already approved of her, so none of the Zodiac was really too concerned about her. Well, except for one.

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Hatori stared blankly at the note on his desk. "Gone out, don't worry, with me." It was nonsensical and it took him three readings to understand what the Rabbit had written. Then he had to figure out where Momiji had taken Sayuri. He considered all the places that the boy would take her this early in the morning when he remembered how close Haru and Momiji were. It was also still inside the compound.

Several of the staff would later be chastised for professing to have seen the family doctor running across the estate in a very undignified manor. But when he reached the house of Haru and his parents he was completely composed and as calm as ever. When Haru's mother answered the door, no one noticed that his tie was slightly crooked, his hair was slightly messy and his shirt was slightly not tucked in.

"Momiji." He addressed from the entryway. The boy turned around and saw his elder staring at him with a disapproving look. It didn't seem to affect him however, he grinned and jumped up from the table.

"Ha'ri! You got my note!" He squealed three decibels above normal hearing range.

"Yes, and next time I would appreciate it if you used complete sentences." He turned to Sayuri and breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you alright?" He asked a little too eagerly. She smiled, nodded and brushed his concern off as an act.

"We were just talking about you." Haru stated calmly. It was partially true. They were talking about how Sayuri was settling in, and how she and Hatori met. She would fill him in later on the lie she had told about their first date and where he had taken her. For now she was just relieved that he was there to take her away. She liked these people, but she was tired and didn't want to be social.

"Were you now?" He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I hope you weren't trying to convince Sayuri to leave me." He grinned a little at her blush. He meant it, but she thought he was just acting out the part of devoted husband.

"On the contrary." Haru's mother spoke. "We were just talking about how you met and such. Honestly, I didn't know how romantic you could be Hatori. I'm a little jealous." She smiled brightly when Sayuri turned beet red.

"Well, I better take these two home before they overstay their welcome." He grabbed Momiji by the ear and held a hand out to Sayuri. She took it gratefully and followed him out of the house; feeling strangely glad to be back in his company.

The rest of the day, and the week were quite uneventful. Momiji came by after school to visit several times, bringing Haru with him. It was now a very ominously dark Sunday afternoon. Sayuri had known the Sohma family for a month now, she was the same amount of time into her pregnancy and she had been living with Hatori for two weeks.

It was nearly the end of November and the clouds outside her window looked as if they were going to explode in a white flurry any minute now. She stood at her bedside staring at the dress Hatori had picked out for her. It was knee-length, black and had quarter-length bell sleeves with a square neck. She couldn't help but notice the fact that it was a size larger than normal.

Her waist hadn't grown; at least, not yet. The reason for the change in size was because over the past week her cup size had gone up. According to the calculations, and some internet research, technically she was in her seventh week of pregnancy. Every website she looked at counted three weeks BEFORE the actual conception as part of pregnancy. Seven weeks meant that in about two more she would start showing. It also meant that next week she would be considered two months along.

Today, however, her greatest concern was her meeting with Akito. He was the head of the household and, try as she might, she couldn't stop herself from feeling nervous at the thought of meeting him. She dressed quickly and pulled her hair back in a low bun at the base of her neck. Her necklace made a striking contrast against her pale white skin that was no longer covered by the black locks that normally cascaded around her shoulders and face.

There was a polite knock on the bedroom door and Hatori entered hesitantly. She gave him a reassuring smile and took the arm he offered her. The walk to Akito's "house" was not long and so they didn't speak much. Sayuri closed her eyes and took a deep breath before stepping through the doorway and into the room where she would be judged worthy or not to be a Sohma.

The room was large with little furniture. Upon entering it she immediately sat on her knees in the center of the room. She faced a young man in a kimono who seemed to be ignoring her completely. She knew better than to speak first, so she silently absorbed the man's appearance.

He wasn't tall, and he was younger than she expected. He had short black hair and sharp features. He was pale, but not the same type of pale she was. Where hers was endearing and beautiful, his pale was sickly and almost repulsive. She couldn't help wanting to pity him. Suddenly he spoke, his eyes darting toward her.

"So, you're the girl Hatori thinks is our monkey's mother?" He began. His voice was biting and yet smooth as silk. "You aren't much are you?" He stood and walked over to her, and around her taking a good long look. Hatori glared at him from behind her; neither one noticing him.

"I don't know what Hatori sees in you. You aren't that pretty." He knelt down in front of her to be at eye level. "I know all about your 'accident'. You should be thanking that man for doing what he did." He pet her cheek, almost lovingly. She held still, flashbacks of the rape coming fresh in her mind. Hatori couldn't hear what Akito was saying, but he knew by how Sayuri tensed that it was something unnerving.

"You really should thank him. You got to marry a wealthy doctor from an influential family. You get to live here, in my house, the lap of luxury. That thing growing inside you…" here he paused and placed a hand on her waist; any sense of personal boundaries long gone. "It belongs to me. If it's a member of my Zodiac, then you get to keep this blissful life, but if it isn't…" He trailed off and looked over Sayuri's shoulder at Hatori; noticing him sitting there for the first time. "Well, if it isn't you'll just go the way Kana did won't you?" He spoke loud enough for Hatori to hear.

This wasn't the first time Sayuri had heard the name Kana. When she would sit on the porch watching the people go by she would overhear people talking about her. She didn't know exactly who this woman was, but only that her own presence in Hatori's life had something to do with her. At her silence, Akito assumed correctly that she didn't know who Kana was. He began laughing maliciously.

"You don't know do you? Kana is Hatori's one true love!" His words were dripping with sarcasm. "She left him when she found out about the curse, she caused him to be severely injured, he can barely see out of his left eye." All of this was spoken more at Hatori than Sayuri. It was as if he was reminding him that he could never be happy with Sayuri; that his real love had left him and he should never attempt happiness again.

Now he addressed Sayuri directly. He knew the piece of information he was about to give her was something she didn't know. He knew it would hurt her greatly. He savored the taste of the words he was about to use to crush her. "He had to erase her memories; just like he will if your baby doesn't belong here."

"That's enough!" Hatori jumped up from where he sat. A lone tear escaped down his cheek and you could tell that he was trying to restrain himself from lunging at Akito's throat. Sayuri sat in shock, too overwhelmed by the concept of having her memories erased to even notice Hatori standing up for her. She placed a quivering hand on her stomach and then fled the room.

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Sayuri was on her knees in the middle of a doorway, leaning against the doorframe for support. Her heaving sobs made enough noise to force several people to stop and stare at her for several minutes before moving on in their daily lives. One person however, chose to stop and attempt to comfort her. "Akito can be really mean. But meeting with him gets easier after a while. The first time is always the hardest because you don't know what to expect."

A young girl with orange hair and bright eyes knelt down in front of her and smiled. "What did he tell you to make you cry so much?" She asked before sitting down next to her and waiting.

Sayuri stared at the girl and wondered who she was. Her hair was an odd color so she assumed she was a member of the zodiac, but she hadn't been told who everyone was yet and so she had no idea who she was talking too. Yet, it was still so easy to tell her problems to her. "He told me that Hatori had the ability to erase memories."

"Why would that make you cry?" She asked innocently.

"Because there is something I really want to forget, but he never told me himself that he could take it away." She tried to explain it as best she could without giving away her "secret".

The girl smiled brightly and tried her best to explain. "Grandpa Ha'ri isn't like that. He didn't mean to be mean. He just didn't want you to lose your memories at all. It hurts him a lot to watch people suffer, but it hurts him even more when he watches them give up and forget all the bad things that happened to them. It reminds him of Kana." Sayuri's head popped up at the name and she tried to suppress a glare.

"Akito said Kana was his true love. Who was she?" She asked.

"Kana was his assistant, she was really nice. They fell in love, but Akito told them they couldn't get married and he hurt Grandpa Ha'ri's eye. Then Kana got upset and Grandpa Ha'ri had to erase her memories. She left and he cried for days. But now you're here and everything is all better." She explained, quite differently than Akito did.

"Kisa? What are you doing here?" Both "girls" looked up to see Hatori standing there, he looked like he had been listening for quite a while. Sayuri turned away, not wanting him to see how upset she was. Kisa ran to his side and hugged his leg.

"I was looking for you. Momiji told me that he met Sayuri and I was wondering if maybe I could meet her too." She looked over at Sayuri, who felt slightly pathetic. "But I met her before I could ask you."

"You don't have to ask me if you can meet her. She's perfectly capable of meeting people without me. But I am glad you came, it looks like she would have scared half the family with her crying if you hadn't come along." He meant it as a joke, but Sayuri felt a new wave of embarrassed tears sweep over her. She hated being so emotional.

Kisa saw her eyes well up and ran back to her, hugging her tightly. "It's ok, don't cry!" She exclaimed. Hatori felt bad for making her tears restart. Kisa wrapped her arms around Sayuri and smiled at her. "Let's do something fun ok?"

Hatori watched the little twelve-year-old in amazement. Not too long ago she would have been the one crying and Tohru would have been the one hugging and comforting. It seemed true that when people receive love, they want with all their hearts to give it back to someone else. "You're being very friendly today Kisa. What happened to the shy little girl who used to hide behind me all the time?" He asked jokingly.

Kisa looked from him to Sayuri and back. She didn't want to say it, but she knew that Sayuri was now the one who needed to hide behind Hatori, at least for a little while. She shrugged her shoulders as an answer and then looked at Sayuri again. "What do you want to do?"

Sayuri thought for a moment. The one thing she wanted was to lock herself back in her room and cry until she wasn't in this situation anymore. But she didn't want to cry. She didn't want to be an emotional wreck anymore. She wanted to go back to being her calm collected self that she was before any of this happened. She wanted to go back to the time before she knew she was pregnant.

"Can we go visit Tohru?" She asked politely. Kisa's eyes lit up at the idea and she turned to Hatori, who melted at the two pairs of eyes begging him to take them away from this house and to a place of security.

"I'll go get the car." He consented. As he turned to go he remembered something. "Sayuri, you might want to change into something more comfortable. We can't stay long, we need to talk when we get back." He almost sounded angry with her. Almost.

Kisa helped Sayuri to stand and go inside. She changed quickly and let her hair down. She felt so much more herself when she could hide behind her hair. When she left the bedroom her hand was instantly grabbed by Kisa and she was rushed out to the waiting car.

"Ha'ri! What a nice surprise! Oh, and you brought Sayuri and Kisa, how nice." Shigure stood in the doorway and greeted them. Sayuri took off her shoes and then looked pleadingly at Shigure. Her face was pale and she had a hand on her mouth.

"Go right ahead. You know where the bathroom is." He moved aside so she could run. He shook his head slightly. "Poor thing. Must be awful to get so sick after such a short ride."

"It's only the beginning." Hatori commented. "Morning sickness lasts as long as fourteen weeks." Both of the men shivered at the thought and silently thanked god that they didn't have to suffer through it.

"What's wrong with Sayuri?" Kisa asked; she was holding onto Hatori's pant leg again. A fleeting thought that she was getting a little too old for that ran through his head, but he brushed it off. It didn't matter.

"Well, Sayuri is going to have a baby." He explained quickly. Kisa smiled at this and then went looking for Tohru.

"So, how did it go with Akito today?" Shigure asked. Hatori sighed and then ushered his friend to the back porch. They both sat and began talking. Hatori related what had happened to the best of his abilities.

"After she ran off, Akito kept me back. I don't know how I'm going to tell her this, but he wants us to start sharing a room." He watched longingly as Shigure lit a cigarette. The dog held out the package to him.

Hatori pulled up his shirt-sleeve to reveal a patch on his arm. "I quit when she moved in." Shigure nodded and hid the box.

"Why?"

"Second hand smoke is hideous for her." He looked over his shoulder to see Sayuri standing in the kitchen behind him. He didn't know how long she had been listening, but by the look on her face it had been long enough.

"You quit smoking for me?" She asked in surprise. So she hadn't heard the part about having to share a room. Good.

"Of course. It's bad for the baby." It seemed obvious to him. Of course, he was a doctor.

"Oh." She averted her eyes and crossed her arms protectively. The effect was that she looked completely defenseless.

"Sayuri!" Tohru called from somewhere behind her. Kisa had dragged her downstairs to find her newest friend. "I'm so happy you came to visit!"

Sayuri turned and grinned as the teenager ran up and hugged her tight. For some reason, whenever this girl was nearby, nothing seemed as bad as it had before. She was like a single candle in the middle of a dark room, the closer you were to her the less dark and hopeless you felt.

"Stay for dinner please! Oh, Shigure is it ok if they all stay for dinner?" Tohru asked. She really didn't need to. Though he owned the house, Shigure didn't run it. It was more her house than anyone else's.

"Of course, if we have enough food." He joked. She jumped to work in her perky way, Sayuri and Kisa following and helping in any way they could. Hatori and Shigure watched them from the kitchen table with awe.

Dinner was loud and fun and completely freeing. Yuki and Kyo joined them and argued till they were blue in the face. Sayuri laughed at them and at Shigure's jokes and Tohru's clumsiness. Kisa sat in-between the two girls and glowed with happiness. If only it could last forever, that evening of freedom.

As they were leaving, Shigure pulled Hatori aside and hissed at him. "Be gentle with her. She won't be too happy about sharing a room with you."

"Says the man who's as blunt as a rubber mallet." Hatori retorted. "I know."

He returned to the group saying their goodbyes and then escorted the two young women back to the car. As he was driving home he tried to think of the best possible way to break the news to Sayuri.

"Sayuri…" He began as they walked through their own door after dropping Kisa off at her house. "There's something we need to talk about."

She visibly sighed and turned around. "Kisa told me about Kana. She told me that you hate erasing people's memories. I thought about it on the drive home and I don't want my memories erased if that's where you're headed."

He was shocked. He hadn't thought about that being a major problem. He tried to put himself in her shoes and realized that having the memory of being raped erased was quite appealing. He mentally kicked himself for not realizing that a long time ago. He could have ended so much of her suffering. He could have given her new memories and made her a part of the Sohma family in some other way. He could have made her believe that they really had met and gotten married three months ago and were now expecting their first baby.

She spoke again and broke his trance. "Akito was right. At least, a little bit. The only reason I'm here is because of that man." She shivered at the thought of him. "I don't want to forget him, no matter how much it hurts."

Hatori stared at her in open astonishment. She was so different from Kana in so many ways. She was quiet where Kana had been loud. She was shy where Kana was outgoing. She was darkness where Kana was light. Kana had been the spring that came to melt the snow that was his heart; Sayuri was something else, something more complimentary, like glittering ice that waited for the snow to fall.

"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" She asked quietly.

Hatori shook his head to clear his thoughts. "No…" He answered and then plunged into the next confrontation. "Akito told me that he doesn't want me sleeping in my office anymore. He wants us to share a room." He watched her face change. She had been so content a minute ago.

A flash of worry crossed her eyes before she hid it by staring down at her feet. "If that's what Akito wants…" Her voice trailed off in defeat. She knew now that none of the Zodiac could go against Akito. She was a part of this family now; it was only right that she had to follow his orders as well.

She was completely silent for the rest of the evening. When it came time to go to sleep she changed wordlessly in the bathroom. By the time she was ready to climb in bed Hatori was already there. He sat up reading on the left side of the bed, she could tell he was trying his hardest not to seem like a threat. She crawled into the bed beside him and tried to be as small as she could, not wanting to make contact. Hatori put down his book and turned out the lights without a sound. He silently cursed Akito.


	7. The Ups

ZOMG... Ayame, Kagura, New Years and more!!! Holy crap this one took a ton... 16 Word pages... Help me I'm crazy...

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Chapter Seven – The Ups…

"Sayuri wake up, I need the chair." Hatori shook her sleeping form lightly. It was the third time that week that she had fallen asleep in his office chair while he was out or busy. He didn't mind it; he knew how tired she was. But he needed to get some work done and it was the only chair he had in his home office.

It had been four weeks since her visit with Akito. It was almost the end of December now and New Years was approaching fast. Sayuri opened her eyes reluctantly and sat up. "Sorry." She apologized softly. "I didn't mean to fall asleep again." She smiled shyly.

"It's fine, you must be extremely tired. Why don't you go take a nap?" He helped her stand and then stole the chair. She smiled and left the office.

Hatori rarely worked at his actual office anymore. He preferred to work from home and make house calls. Over the past few weeks, Sayuri started helping him with his paperwork. She was running out of things to do around the house and she had read almost every book he owned. Since he was working from home, she saw how stressed he was and decided to try and help him in whatever way she could.

They found themselves staying up late talking about files and going over cases. They would sit in bed at night, papers everywhere, talking about whatever they had read or discovered that day. Sayuri was becoming more confident in his presence, and Hatori was feeling as if he could show her more of who he really was each day.

Once she was out of the office, Hatori's cell phone rang. He knew the ring instantly and he took a deep breath before answering it.

"Ha'ri!" Exclaimed Ayame on the other end. "I can't believe how shameful you are! Getting married and not telling me! You horribly awful man! I'm coming over this afternoon with my wedding gift and you can't stop me!" Hatori could tell he was twirling with excitement just by the tone of his voice. "I'll see you in two hours!"

The click of the phone was barely heard before Hatori jumped out of his chair and ran to find Sayuri. He found her sitting in bed, reading and had to restrain the urge to shove her in a closet before Aya arrived. "I need to tell you something…" He began.

She hated those words. They always meant that something was wrong. She nodded for him to continue anyway. "My cousin Ayame is coming over. You need to be prepared… He's a little…" Hatori couldn't think of the right adjective to describe his flamboyantly obnoxious cousin. "Overwhelming." He finished pathetically.

He looked at her in her sweat-pants and t-shirt and sighed. "You'll have to change." He commented.

"Of course." She replied a bit sarcastically. "I can't wear sweats when I meet one of your cousins." She explained. "Is he a member of the Zodiac?" She asked.

"The snake." He answered as he ruffled through her side of the closet. Finally he found a pretty little white dress that he hoped would satisfy Aya's need for women to be frilly. Sayuri watched him wordlessly, shocked that he would be so animated over something so small as meeting a cousin.

She silently took the dress from him and closed herself in the bathroom. It was simple, nothing she ever wore was that intricate. The white fabric fell away from her body right below her chest. It had long sleeves and the skirt came to her knees. When she stepped out of the bathroom Hatori was stunned for a moment.

He looked her up and down, for the first time noticing a slight roundness to her midsection. His eyes must have focused on the spot because her hand gently stopped there and she spoke hesitantly. "Is it really that obvious?" she asked.

He shook his head in disagreement. "Not if you don't know…" He tried lamely. The front door rang and Sayuri gave her signature jump. Hatori spun. Of course Aya would arrive an hour and a half early.

Both of them answered the door together. Ayame flung himself through the doorway and proclaimed his joy at their being wed, before either one could say a word. Sayuri appraised the man as she always did when she met someone new. So far she didn't like him.

He was tall, with long white hair. His eyes were golden and resembled a snake lying in wait for its prey. He wore a red outfit that she couldn't identify the style of. He seemed extremely feminine for a man, especially a cousin of Hatori. He was also loud, something she didn't enjoy in the least.

Suddenly he was staring at her in open-mouthed shock. "Why Ha'ri! She's absolutely stunning! I can't believe you haven't brought her by the shop yet, I simply must introduce her to Mine! My goodness dear," here he approached her and held one of her hands in both of his. "You are a raven-haired goddess. My mortal eyes are not fit to behold your splendor!" He showered her with compliments until she politely interrupted him.

"You have a shop?" She asked, trying to change the subject. She had never been comfortable receiving compliments, and in her current condition she felt nowhere near "goddess" status.

Ayame glared at Hatori. "You haven't told her about me? How shameful of you! I, your dearest cousin, an unknown to your new bride! Ha'ri you must be so careless!"

Hatori ignored him and spoke to Sayuri. "He owns a fabric store downtown. He lives outside the Main House as well."

"It is not just a fabric store!" Ayame interjected. "I sell fantasies!" Sayuri was quickly becoming overwhelmed by this man who was now seemingly measuring her with his eyes. She turned red as his eyes settled on her waist and a wicked grin flitted across the corners of his mouth.

"Ha'ri. I must say, you have been keeping secrets from me." He said, quite calmly. "Why didn't you tell me I was going to be an Uncle?" He asked slyly. Sayuri's hands flew to her waist. She knew that it wasn't noticeable, but for some reason this man saw what no one else had.

"We weren't telling people yet." Hatori tried to explain.

"And you thought putting her in a pretty white dress would distract me? I'm a designer, I have trained my artistic eye to notice every curve of a woman's body." He grinned at Sayuri here. "That particular curve is especially important."

She turned as white as a sheet. This man had absolutely no sense of decency. No filter for what he said. Somehow she would have to survive an entire afternoon with this man. The thought made her want to run and hide. She suddenly realized that Hatori was standing next to her with a hand on her shoulder. She didn't know how or when he had moved to that position, but she was grateful to him for doing so.

"Well, I had a wedding present for you, but it certainly isn't fitting anymore!" Ayame pouted. Sayuri wondered what could possibly have changed in the time they had been talking to make his wedding present void.

"Ayame, you didn't…" Hatori's hand on her shoulder noticeably tightened its grip.

"Of course Ha'ri! It's what I do! For goodness sake, I can't believe you'd be upset by it. But now it won't fit her at all!"

"Hatori?" She looked up at him with a confused expression. She was also beginning to be scared by this "wedding present" that supposedly wouldn't fit her anymore.

"He made you a dress." Hatori explained calmly.

Ayame picked up a bag he had dropped by the front door and handed it to her with much flourish. "Maybe you can wear it after the baby comes." He was ever the optimist.

Sayuri reached in and pulled out a very small dress. She knew it would fit her, when she was skinny again, but it would be skin tight. It was a pale green, and by the look of it, it was a nurse's uniform. In the bottom of the bag was a pair of white knee-high socks and white shoes. There was also a nurse's cap but she couldn't see it behind the shoes.

Hatori glared at Ayame. "What kind of wedding present is that?" He asked through grit teeth. Hatori was always one to keep his temper in check.

"I've always known your fantasy was nurses. Just like Shigure's is school girls. I've always wanted to give you this, but there was never a girl to wear it!"

Sayuri's head snapped up from staring at the dress. How stupid could she be! This man thought they were in love, and this dress was for them _both _to enjoy. She began turning red at the thought. Unfortunately, Aya noticed.

"Now now, don't be shy! You two are married, about to be parents! I mean, sex is an obvious part of your relationship!"

Hatori finally stepped in. "Aya, there is something we need to tell you." He began. "Shigure already knows, so it's only fair that you know as well."

Sayuri paled. He was going to tell this man, the one who had no filter on what came out of his mouth, their secret.

"The baby isn't mine." They probably weren't the best words for him to start with, but it got Ayame's attention. "Sayuri was," he hesitated. "She was raped near the end of October, by a Sohma. It was the night Ritsu died, and we think the baby might be the next monkey. We got married to keep the zodiac curse within the family."

Ayame immediately switched gears. "Oh! What a tragic tale! You poor little flower, completely and utterly alone in this dank forest of hideous men!" He clasped Sayuri's hands in his and tears began to fill his eyes. Though his words reeked of melodramatic insincerity, she couldn't help noticing that underneath it all he really was sorry and concerned.

"You would do well not to spread the story around. Not many people know, even inside, the truth behind our marriage." Hatori interrupted. He sounded cold and distant. As if he was trying to remind _himself _that their marriage was only a façade. Sayuri, of course, saw it only as confirmation that his other gestures of caring were only an act.

Ayame let go of her hand and smiled brightly. "Come now Ha'ri! We must change the subject to something much lighter!" He turned back to Sayuri, who was dumbfounded by his ability to change emotions so quickly. "Would you like to hear stories of our high school years? Ha'ri, Guri and I were thick as thieves!" He continued on into an elaborate tale of his and Hatori's younger years and all three of them moved into a more permanent arrangement sitting in the main room.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur of stories, compliments and inappropriate comments. Sayuri nodded and smiled. The stories Ayame told were mostly about his shop and his own endeavors. The man talked about himself as if the world around him cared of nothing else.

When it came time for dinner it seemed almost unnecessary to invite Ayame to spend the evening meal with them, he seemed to be under the impression that he would be staying no matter what they said. He spent the time fawning over Sayuri and trying to make sure she ate enough. As he was leaving afterwards he ordered her to come to his shop the following weekend so that he could measure her for a dress. "A maternity dress this time, something sweet and motherly!" He exclaimed on his way out the door.

It was now late into the evening and Sayuri was so exhausted she could barely stay awake long enough to change her clothes. When she fell into bed that night she didn't even worry about touching Hatori. He noticed this when her leg brushed against his and she didn't flinch. It was the first time _she_ had touched _him_. In response he turned out the lights and brushed a stray hair out of her face. It was a gentle touch; she barely noticed it before drifting off to sleep.

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Two weeks. Two weeks and no sleep. Two weeks, no sleep and a very large bruise on his left shoulder. Hatori held an icepack on his shoulder for the third time that day. Where morning sickness was gone, nightmares had moved in.

It was a common symptom of pregnancy, but in Sayuri's case it was violent and horrifying. She would roll over in her sleep and fight some unseen attacker until Hatori shook her awake. He was usually the one in the line of fire, and the large purple marking on his shoulder was proof of how hard she fought back against whoever was trying to hurt her.

The count was now eleven weeks. Everyone in the Sohma family knew that Sayuri was a "proud mother to be" as so many of them put it. Hatori smirked and rubbed his shoulder when one woman exclaimed how excited they must be.

It was also a week from New Years. Knowing that she would need time to mentally prepare herself for meeting the entire Sohma family; Hatori told Sayuri about the celebrations several days ago. He also told her that he would have to dance at the Zodiac Banquet. She still hadn't seen his Zodiac form, but she knew he was the dragon. You couldn't live long in the Sohma house without knowing who people were.

Sayuri wanted nothing more than to spend the holiday locked in her room reading. Unfortunately, her position as the wife of a very high ranking member of the family would not allow her to do that. She would stand by his side, greeting people and accepting congratulations for something she did not want to be congratulated on. She would smile and look pretty and wait for the three days to be over.

Today, as Hatori sat icing his shoulder, Sayuri was watching the family preparing for their celebration. No one would let her do anything, not that she blamed them. She was dropping things and tripping more than a normal human being. She couldn't tell if it was because she was so tired from the lack of sleep, or if it had something to do with the hormones. Today, she sat on the porch sipping tea and found herself almost asleep, when a girl not much younger than herself came over to her with a shy look about her.

"Hello." She said quietly. She was rather cute. Her hair was a nice chocolate brown and she seemed sweet. Sayuri smiled and nodded a hello.

"I'm Kagura." The girl continued. "Are you Sayuri?" She asked. Sayuri nodded and smiled again. She was meeting new family members daily now. Some of them were kinder than others, and as this girl sat down next to her, she couldn't help thinking she would like this one.

"Oh good! I just got off the phone with Hatori, he told me I could take you shopping." She proclaimed it with joy; Sayuri's first impressions being torn in two.

But, being a gracious and completely submissive person, Sayuri gave in and let the girl drag her away from the main house. Before she left, Hatori handed her a credit card with "Sayuri Sohma" printed on it. She hadn't been given anything with her married name yet and so she spent a few minutes rubbing her thumb over the lettering. Finally Kagura grabbed her arm and started dragging her to the stores.

For a girl she barely knew, Kagura was completely in tune to Sayuri's sense of style. Every store they entered, mostly maternity, she was able to find something within. Every time she handed the older woman an outfit or article of clothing, it was exactly what she wanted. Sayuri didn't even have to try anything on before they made their purchases and moved on to the next store.

It felt good to be out of the house and in the company of another woman. She felt comfortable enough around Kagura that she was willing to even laugh a little at some of the strange outfits women were supposed to wear when expecting. The baggy denim and the frilly pink peasant tops were something to be mocked and scorned and Kagura was just the person to do it with.

Sayuri had never spent so much money in one shopping trip before. Several times Kagura had to reassure her that the family could afford it and that she shouldn't worry about price. She couldn't help remembering what Akito told her at her first meeting. She really was fortunate to have fallen into the laps of a very influential family.

They staggered home early that evening; weighed down by countless shopping bags. Upon walking through the front gate Sayuri dropped the few bags Kagura would let her carry. The main house glowed with paper lanterns and decorative lights. There were dragons everywhere and family members bustled about in droves. The sight was overwhelming.

Kagura danced forward and twirled. "I love it when they finally get the lights up! It's so beautiful!" She ran back and helped Sayuri pick up the bags she had dropped and then dragged her by the arm back to Hatori's house.

When they reached what Sayuri now called "home" Kagura helped her carry the bags into the seemingly empty house. The two girls hugged and parted friends. Sayuri felt exhausted from her day out shopping, so she left the bags on the floor in the entryway. She picked out some clothing from one and made her way back to the bedroom, where she planned on changing and then taking a quick nap before dinner arrived.

When she opened the door she was frozen by the sight of Hatori, shirtless, practicing his dance for the Zodiac banquet. He hadn't noticed her silent entrance, and so he continued in the intricate steps. They were powerful and smooth. Every few steps would be faster than the ones before and the force of the dragon spirit seemed to emanate from him. There was a heat in his steps that was eerily similar to fire. Sayuri stood mesmerized by the grace and power of it all. When she got a glimpse of his face she could see that his hair was tousled and his forehead dripped with a light sweat. When he turned away from her, it exposed a large purple welt on his left shoulder. She gasped when she saw it and the noise made him turn sharply to see who was watching him.

"How?..." she managed to ask, reaching out to his shoulder. She wasn't aware of how violent she had been in her sleep as of late. He came slowly over to her and absentmindedly grabbed the sore spot with his right hand.

"It's nothing." He tried. He could see that she didn't believe him. He tried to change the subject. "I think you're the first person outside of the Zodiac to see one of our dances." He brushed his bangs away from his good eye and gave her a hesitant smile.

"Really? Why don't other people get to see the dances?" She asked innocently. His dance, in her mind, was beautiful. It portrayed the dragon to the smallest detail. She wondered if every Zodiac dance was this intricately laced in with the spirit it represented.

"Probably for the same reason we don't let outsiders know about the curse. It's not very common practice." He grabbed his shirt off the bed and brushed past her on his way to go take a shower. She wanted to know more about the bruise on his shoulder, but he seemed completely disinterested and unwilling to talk about it, so she didn't bring it up again that night.

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The first night of New Years was chaotic to say the least. The entire Sohma family flocked to the main house for the evening and so many introductions were made that Sayuri's head was swimming. She wore a black dress with white cherry blossoms printed on it. The deep v-neck made a beautiful frame for her necklace and her hair was pinned back in a messy bun with chopsticks. Though it was black, the dress prominently displayed her new baby bump, Ayame spent hours measuring and choosing the perfect fabrics for her petite frame.

The only thing that kept her from running when people came to congratulate her was Hatori standing by her side. He fielded many of the questions she was too shy to answer, and he kept his hand in hers throughout every introduction.

Several other women in the Sohma family were expecting, and some had newborn babies to present to Akito. The expectant mothers were all unknowingly candidates for bearing the next zodiac child. Sayuri was almost nervous about her position in the family now. She never considered that idea that she _wasn't_ carrying the monkey. What would happen to her if this all ended? How would she survive raising a child without these people to support her?

"Excuse me, could you hold him for a minute?" A mother with a newborn stood in front of her and held out her baby to Sayuri with a pleading look. Hatori had gone to get the two of them drinks and Sayuri had been quickly ambushed by mothers wanting to congratulate her. This woman had, along with the newborn, a small girl at her side in tears. Sayuri nodded and hesitantly took the squirming baby in her arms.

She held him as if he were made of porcelain. He looked up at her with giant blue eyes and she couldn't stop herself from smiling. It was exactly that moment when Hatori looked over to see her holding the newborn so affectionately. Shigure and Ayame were on either side of him in an instant and they both sighed in his ears.

Shigure spoke first. "She really does look perfect like that; so at home holding a baby." He mused.

"Yes, it's so picturesque isn't it?" Ayame interjected. "I must say, the dress suits her to a tee." He grinned from ear to ear.

"What she really needs now is a dark and handsome man to stand behind her, one hand on her shoulder, gazing down at the baby in her arms. That would make it novel worthy." Shigure continued, blatantly pushing Hatori towards her.

"You know that's not possible." Hatori protested. "I can't fall in love again. I've had my chance." He sighed.

"Sometimes fate gives us another try at the things we think we've failed at." Ayame was right, for once.

Hatori looked back and forth between his two best friends. "I can't afford to fall in love. If that baby isn't one of us, then she's going to have to leave. I can't get attached." The look in his eyes spoke volumes above what his words attempted to portray. He was afraid of his heart breaking again. He was afraid of losing another love.

Shigure neglected to tell Hatori that he was above and beyond in love with her. Though it didn't seem like it, Shigure was a very observant person. The relationship between Hatori and Sayuri amused him. Neither one acknowledged their own feelings, and neither one noticed the obvious love the other had for them. He wondered sometimes if they were the most oblivious couple he could find, then he remembered Tohru and Kyo.

Hatori looked at the smirk on his friend's face and decided it was time to return to the land of the sane. It would soon be midnight, and he had to take Sayuri back to Shigure's house to spend the rest of the holiday with Tohru. He slid up behind her and slowly made his presence known. He didn't want her jumping with a baby in her arms.

She turned her head away from the now sleeping baby and smiled at him. For a moment she forgot her situation entirely. "I hope our baby is as cute." She told him absentmindedly. Before the sentence ended, she realized what she was saying.

The mothers around them laughed and one commented before Hatori could. "With the young doctor here as a father, and your stunning beauty, your baby is bound to be the most adorable child in the Sohma family."

Hatori took a moment to compose himself. Sayuri's unthinking comment hit him like a ton of bricks. _Our baby_ he thought repeatedly. _Our baby _but it wasn't. He had no claim on this baby. He had no right to call it his. And she was just playing her part for the crowds. Or so he believed.

"We need to get going." He put a hand on her shoulder as she handed the baby back to his mother. "Your parents are waiting." The family believed that Sayuri's parents wanted her to spend New Year's with them. Akito was perfectly willing to let "the imposter" spend his holiday with "that woman".

As they walked out to the car, Hatori couldn't stop thinking about the "our baby" comment. She sounded so serious when she said it, and yet both of them knew it wasn't true. All the way to Shigure's house, he kept going over the words in his mind. His thoughts flipped back and forth between "she was acting" and "she wants to consider me the father". But he knew that the latter couldn't be true. She didn't see him that way, she was afraid of him and he was nothing more than the man who took responsibility for someone else's actions. It seemed to be his lot in life.

Sayuri, on the other hand, could think of nothing but the feeling of holding a baby. It felt so perfectly right somehow. Her maternal instincts kicked in instantly when she picked up that little bundle. Her dreams of holding her own baby were shattered in an instant when she remembered that, if her baby was a member of the zodiac, and if it was a boy, she would never be able to hold him without him turning into an animal. The thought brought tears to her eyes and caught in her throat. Taking care of a baby was her duty, holding it and loving it, her privilege; a privilege that would be taken from her by this curse.

As they pulled up to the house, Sayuri spoke quietly for the first time. "When can we find out the sex of the baby?" She asked resolutely, the time taken to work up the courage to ask obvious in her tone. Hatori noticed the change in her voice from her normal, hesitant self.

"We're at twelve weeks right?" He asked rhetorically. They both knew the count almost to the hour. "We can have an ultrasound anytime you want." Without her saying it, he knew the reason. She wanted to be able to hold her baby, the same way the other mothers held theirs. She wanted to know now what the chances were for her to be unable to hold her child. Hatori's mind raced through all the mothers of zodiac males, one in particular stood out above the rest: Momiji's mother. She had rejected her child with every fiber of her being because it changed into an animal when she held it. How would Sayuri, who had been through so much already, react to such a drastic ordeal?

"As soon as New Years is over?" She inquired, back to her hesitant self again. He nodded and then wordlessly got out of the car and helped her out. He walked her to the door, where Tohru was waiting excitedly for her houseguest, and then left to return to the world he now loathed even more than before.

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Well, there it be, new chapter! However, it may take some time for another one as it is only in concept stages. .

Read, review, love me, hate me, but PLEASE let me know either way!


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